An appeal court has acquitted an Irish language teacher who had been
arrested for talking to the PSNI police in Irish.

Ms Nic an Bhaird was arrested after leaving a bar on the Malone Road in
May last year. She denied making the defiant republican call ‘Tiocfaidh
Ar La’, meaning ‘Our day will come, to a PSNI unit in Belfast last
summer, which led to her arrest on the grounds of disorderly behaviour.
The PSNI held her in custody demanding she spoke in English before
they let her go.

She was later convicted of the offence at Belfast Magistrate’s Court in
February and fined a hundred pounds sterling.

On Friday a judge accepted her appeal against the conviction and she
was acquitted.

Ms Nic an Bhaird said she had used the similar phrase ‘Tiocfaidh Bhur
La’ - meaning you will have your chance and meant as a reference to her
friends.

Speaking afterwards, Sinn Féin’s Bairbre de Brun said Ms Nic an Bhaird,
should “never have been in court in the first place”.

“Maire Nic an Bhaird has now spent a long time trying to defending
herself,” she said.

“She was brought to court because she spoke Irish on the streets of
Belfast.”

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